


abyssal

by starsandroses



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Flashbacks, M/M, Pirate AU!, Pirates, Royals, Royalty AU!, a single innuendo, brotherly creativitwins - Freeform, cursing, engaged prinxiety, mild violence, no one drowns though!, oh a minor of character dies, oh there’s a little Moceit in a line because it’s a good ship, remus is a pirate captain, the intrulogical is basically the OH NO HES HOT meme, the ocean, the opening paragraph is all about drowning, things go downhill from there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:28:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22092604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsandroses/pseuds/starsandroses
Summary: Remus never intended to return home. However, his (forced) homecoming isn’t bad as he feared it would. In fact, it goes suprisingly well
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 29
Kudos: 157





	abyssal

Remus wondered how it would feel to drown. How would it feel to have water flood his lungs, his throat, his mouth? How would it feel to sink below the waves he had called home for years? Would he be able to see until the moonlight faded away as he fell into the depths? Would it be cold? Would some mysterious creature of the deep eat him whole before he could even drown? How long would he fight against the current and the cruelty of the ocean before it’s power overcame him? Or would he fight at all? Would he just allow the sea to have her way with him, opening his mouth and allowing the water to fill him like overflowing balloon until he burst? It would be an interesting way to go. One he could live with. 

Er, it was one he could die with because it seemed that’s what would be happening to him soon. 

His crew hadn’t seen the vessel coming. They had just successfully raided a wealthy, old, and quite horrible lord’s coastal estate and the pirates of the great ship Ratón Del Océano had celebrated. Remus didn’t even know if they’re been someone in the crow’s nest, which was his own fault. A captain had to be aware of their crew, after all. So, when they had been attacked in the dead of night by an unlit ship, the crew was completely unprepared.

They had tried their best. Every time Remus saw a sailor with bloodstains on their pristine uniforms or cuts across their cheeks, the captain let out a laugh that had the men guarding him shaking in their boots. 

(Good. They should fear him. He didn’t gain his reputation for being the fiercest, most bloodthirsty, most dangerous pirate in the seven seas for nothing.)

But it had still been a loss. His men were captured, their treasure, stolen, and Remus himself would soon be dead. All captains- even a disgraced pirate captain- sunk with their ships. 

At least, that’s how it should have gone. 

A tall man, (who, from the faint light coming from his lantern, seemed to be painfully attractive) came their way, his blue coat shining with metals, soon made his way over to where Remus was being kept. His eyes were the same blue as the night sky above them, and they were set with the same coldness at the sea churring below their feet. Silver spectacles rested across his nose, matching the honors pinned to his chest. 

The other ship’s captain.

“Captain Remus. A name I’ve heard in almost every tavern I’ve come upon on this side of the Mediterranean. You weren’t as much as a challenge as I was prepared for.”

“Oh, trust me.” Remus purred, leaned as close to the other Captain as he dared.” I could be much more of a challenge for you, in any way your pretty little brain could think.”

The other man rolled his eyes, stepping back. “I should let you drown. You’re scum, but you were a good captain. Any captain who was good to their crew deserves that honor. However, I’m afraid I cannot do that. His Majesty wishes for a family reunion.”

Before Remus could process that thought (and the horrors that came with it), the other captain nodded to one of the sailors, and something heavy hit Remus’s head, and the pirate fell into unconsciousness with a single thought in his head.

His father had found him. 

-.-.-.-.

Remus had been thirteen when he decided he didn’t want to be the crown prince anymore. He had been thirteen when he’d rounded a corner in the palace to show his father the painting he’d made with his brother, and found his father with a bloody knife in his hands and a dead advisor on the floor. (Remus remembered that advisor, even years later. Sir Anthony Cosmos. He was a good man, his only flaw being his inability to sit still and agree with the King’s every whim. He had a family- a son, Remus recalled, who had played with him and his twin when they were children.) He was thirteen when he realized that his father had been corrupted by the crown. He was thirteen when he realized he would find himself going down the same path if he took his birthright.

He was thirteen when he finally realized what his heart had been telling him the whole time. 

Remus had more of his father in him than his mother. He had his father’s cruelty running his veins, diluted by his mother’s kindness, but still there. Even more so, Remus was reckless and his spirit demanded to be free. Being stuck with a crown on his head and a throne under his butt would drive him completely mad. 

It had taken him three years to actually do something about it. 

It was in the middle of the night when he stole away. He packed everything he could in a bag, threw on an old dirt-stained tunic from when he and his twin had helped their mother in her garden. He didn’t look at his brother, sleeping peacefully in the bed across from him, who would wake up alone. He knew if he did, his resolve would break. 

He tiptoed his way through the palace- for the first time in his life, being quiet as he walked through the halls. He almost made it out of the palace unnoticed, but his mother was always a little too clever. (Remus supposed he had at least gotten that from her.)

When he saw her older son with a bag and his dirtiest outfit, she didn’t protest. She didn’t force him to stay. She unclasped her necklace, a wedding gift from a southern country, and let it fall into Remus’s hands. (He had cried the day he traded to it but his ship. He knew it was what his mother would have wanted, but the tears had fallen anyway). She bent down and pressed a kiss to her son’s forehead. “Be careful, love, okay?”

Remus could only nod, and before he could stop himself, he threw himself into his mother’s arms, staining her pale nightgown with dirt and tears. His mother didn’t care; she hugged her son and shed tears of her own. 

“Make sure... Make sure Ro is okay, please Mamà?”

“Of course. Now you have to go, okay?”

Another nod, and before Remus could change his mind, he fled out of the palace, into the night. 

-.-.-

The voices woke Remus up. 

He couldn’t quite understand them at first, only hearing snippets of sentences and random words. They obviously hadn’t realized he had woken up yet, because they carried on with the conversation. 

“How do you find him attractive? He looks like a drowned rat.”

“You weren’t on the ship, Virgil. He shares the same passion as your fiance, but isn’t as much as a… what is the word you use…” The second voice, which Remus had decided was the captain of the other ship, stopped talking. Remus heard the sound of paper being flipped before the captain spoke up again. “‘Pretty Boy’. That is the term, correct?”

“Oh my god, you’re such- yes, that’s the word. So basically, you like him since he’s a buffer version of Ro?”

Ro… as in Roman? Remus almost burst up at even a hint of his little brother. He had asked about his brother at every port his crew at stopped at, but it seemed his father was keeping word about his sons away from the public. If the first voice was betrothed to Roman, he had to be alive and safe then, right?

Before Remus could continue thinking about his brother, footsteps echoed through the corridor and a third voice joined the other two. “His Majesty wishes to see the captain now. You should probably wake him.”

Remus could almost hear the captain’s smirk. “Oh, he’s well-awake.”

Cover blown and panic growing in his chest, Remus opened his eyes. He only had time to register that he was in a cell before he heard the sound of a lock being undone. When the door to the cell opened, Remus was on his feet, pushing past the dark-haired man at the cell door. He didn’t get far, however, because the infuriating handsome (He was also just genuinely infuriating Remus decided) captain grabbed his arm and pulled him back. A silver saber was pointed at his chest, and Remus found himself glaring at who had to be the first voice- the maybe Roman’s fiance. The third voice belong to a male in a bright blue tunic with a bright smile and ever brighter knives hanging at his hips. 

“If you three let me go, I won’t kill you.” Remus sneered, ignoring his pounding heart. “If you don’t, I’ll paint the walls of this place red with your blood and use your skulls for my new figurehead of my ship.”

The three stared at the pirate for a five-count of silence. Then, the fiance snorted, his sword pressing a little closer to Remus’s chest. “Are dramatics a hereditary, Logan? Because they have to be genetic with this family.”

“Put that sword away before I shove it up you-”

“We should take him to the throne room now before he tries to escape again!” The third voice decided, cutting off Remus’s threat. Before Remus could complain, he walked over to them, pushing down the saber and taking the ex-prince’s free hand in his. “I’m sorry that we scared you, but it’s okay! No one is going to hurt you.”

Remus couldn’t help but laugh. “Right. The world will flood again before I believe that.”

The man ignored him. “I’m Patton. The Captain of the Navy holding you back is Logan and the knight is Virgil. We’re going to take you to see the King now, Okay?”

“No.”

Remus was ignored and pushed out of the dungeons. Patton chattered on beside him, talking about pointless things. If Remus got out of this alive, he might take the literal ball of sunshine with him. He was exactly the type of man his first mate, Declan, would have been smitten with. Virgil kept his saber out, dark eyes watching Remus like a hawk, prepared in case the pirate pulled something else. He was a bit familiar, though Remus couldn’t place it. And last, but certainly not least was the man pushing him along. In the sunlight streaming in through the palace, Remus could really study the captain, and hot damn. 

Logan caught him staring. “What is it?”

“I have a suggestion.”

“I have a feeling I don’t want to hear it.”

“What if, you moved your hands a bit lower. Just a bit! It wouldn’t take that much effort, and I can think of better things you could do while your hands are down there!”

The captain looked up at the ceiling like he was asking the heavens how he had gotten into this situation. But, for a split second, a small smile seemed to appear on Logan’s face. 

Before Remus could really judge it, Patton stopped his chatter, and pushed open a pair of large, familiar doors. Virgil followed him into the throne room, a smile in his voice. “Hey, love. Brought you a wedding present.”

“Excuse you,” Logan argued, pushing Remus into the room, ignoring the pirates attempts to stay in the hallway. “All you did was wave your saber around. I was the one who went out to sea and found him.”

The windows in the throne room were bigger and allows more sunlight in, and Remus had to adjust his eyes. Before he could, he heard a gasp, and a soft, surprised, and oh so familiar voice said, “Remus?”

When his eyes finally adjusted, Remus followed the sound of the voice. Standing near the throne with an advisor standing next to him was the King. The crown of gold, decorated with rubies and emeralds told the pirate that. But the face didn’t match, it wasn’t his father, it was-

“Ro?” Remus asked, trying to keep his voice from cracking. The King- his brother, his twin- widened his eyes, and abandoned any of the poise he had. Before Remus could blink, his little brother was in his arms, tears leaking from his eyes.

“I thought you were dead! I woke up and you were gone and I thought I would never see you again. I was so mad and it hurt so much Re, but Mamà always told me you needed to be a free and now I know that’s true but why didn’t you tell me? I would have come-“

“Hey, hey you’re crying.” Remus said, wiping a stray tear from his brother's face. “What happened to princes don’t cry? Isn’t that what you always told me when you beat me in duels?”

“I’m King now, crying rights have been enabled again.”

“Father-?”

“Died three years ago. A few months later I was coronated and I’ve been searching you ever since. And Mamà is currently negotiating with the country to the west, I sent a letter to her and she’ll be back soon.”

Something fragile, something Remus had kept hidden in his chest for years, broke. He looked at his brother, his eyes blurred with tears. “You know, always thought you’d be the better ruler. It’s just boring enough for you.”

Roman made a noise that was half a laugh and half a sob. “Oh shut up. We have a lot of talking to do.”

“Can this talking include a discussion about your hot naval captain?”

Roman made another laugh-sob noise, before nodding and burying his head into Remus’s chest. 

And Remus wrapped his arms around his brother, and breathed in the warmth in hadn’t felt in years.

  
  



End file.
